Moon Hoax

The moon: did we land here 40 years ago today?On this date 40 years ago, one of two extraordinary events took place: the greatest feat of exploration in history or the world's biggest hoax.

For the vast majority of people, the lunar landings are an undisputed fact.

However, for a small minority, they were the most successful fraud in history and have continued to fool people for 40 years.

So where did the conspiracy theories begin and what is the evidence presented in support of this incredible claim?The idea that the lunar landings were faked by NASA started almost as soon as the
Apollo program ended.

In 1974, writer Bill Kaysing published We Never Went to the Moon: America's Thirty Billion Dollar Swindle.

This book was the event that launched the conspiracy theories.

The 1978 film Capricorn One, which depicts a fake Mars landing, added fuel to the conspiracy fire.

The timing of these two events also added weight to the idea of government conspiracy, with memories of Watergate and the Vietnam War still fresh in the national consciousness.

After this, the Moon hoax industry died down for over two decades.

Then, in 2001, FOX presented a special broadcast titled, "Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon?" The initial broadcast on February 15, 2001 was so successful that it was rebroadcast a month
later.

This program singled-handedly reignited conspiracy theorists.While accusations and assertions always run rampant with conspiracy theories, with what hard evidence to these people use to support their
claims of fraud? Pictures.

Pictures taken by astronauts on the Moon.

In examining the NASA photographs and video, conspiracy theorists find evidence to support their cause.

Some of the supposed photographic proof includes the lack of stars in the background sky, shadows that appear to be of the wrong brightness, non-parallel shadows when the sun was the only source of
light, waving flags, the lack of crosshairs in photos, and the perfect nature of the pictures themselves.

It should also be of note that debunkers offer solid evidence to counter each one of the conspiracy theorists' arguments.Were the moon landings real or a fake? According to a 1999 Gallup Poll, 6% of
Americans believe the Moon landings were a hoax and 5% had no opinion, leaving the other 89% as believing that the Moon landings really took place.

Personally, if the landings were a fake and with all the thousands of people involved with NASA in the 1960s, I have a very hard time believing that no insider has spilled the beans, or in this case,
the Moon rocks, by now.

But that's just me.

Follow the links below to view the full, sometimes photographic evidence for and against the Apollo conspiracy theories and decide for yourself.For more info: Conspiracy debunkersNASABad
AstronomyConspiracy advocatesConspiracies and hoaxesFaked Moon landings?Just for funThe Neil Armstrong urban legend-untrue but very funny!